"The Ultimate Fighter 11" cast unveiled with 28 middleweight fighters

A total of 28 middleweight competitors have been chosen to compete on the upcoming 11th season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Spike TV’s long-running reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Spike TV today released the list of fighters, who range from a 21-year-old with a few fights to a veteran with 33 pro bouts on his resume. Included are teachers, firefighters, a pipeliner, social worker, an “Iron Ring” competitor, “The Crocodile Hunter’s” bodyguard and others.

Check out the full list of competitors, who will be coached by Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell and can be seen on the March 31 “TUF 11″ debut.

Despite beginning with 28 cast members instead of the customary 32, “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz” is expected to use a 32-slot tournament. Sources close to the show tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at least two opening-round losers, who otherwise would be eliminated from the show, will earn a spot on the cast thanks to their impressive showings in the losing efforts.

Over the course of the 12-week season, two finalists will be left standing. As MMAjunkie.com reported last month, the TUF 11 Finale, a live-event conclusion to the season, is expected to take place June 19 in Las Vegas.

UFC president Dana White also has hinted at some additional tweaks to the format but won’t divulge any of the details.

Below is a list of the competitors and each fighter’s background, courtesy of Spike TV.

RICH ATTONITO
Fighting out of: Deerfield Beach, FL/American Top Team
Record: 7-3
Age: 32
A 2001 graduate of Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y., Rich Attonito wrestled several different weight classes as a member of the Pride wrestling team including the 167-pound and 197-pound. divisions. Attonito has been training with American Top Team since he moved to Florida in 2006. He is the strength and conditioning coach for UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti.

CHARLES BLANCHARD
Fighting out of: Coconut Creek, FL/American Top Team
Record: 7-2
Age: 24
A two-time All-State wrestler in high school, this single father is a jiu-jitsu brown belt and a published poet.

JOSH BRYANT
Fighting out of: Tulsa, OK/Absolute Combat Alliance
Record: 10-0
Age: 29
A member of the Absolute Combat Alliance camp in Tulsa, Okla., Josh Bryant sports a perfect 10-0 professional mixed martial arts record. When not training, Bryant works as a manager for Mazzio’s Italian Eatery in Oklahoma.

CHRIS CAMOZZI
Fighting out of: Denver, CO/Gumm MMA
Record: 11-3
Age: 22
Camozzi is a freestyle fighter from Denver that works as a bouncer in his spare time. Two of his three losses are to “TUF” alumni Jesse Forbes (season three) and Jesse Taylor (season seven).

BRENT COOPER
Fighting out of: Long Beach, CA/Team Oyama
Record: 5-1
Age: 31
Of Sioux Indian descent, Cooper is a pipeliner by day for Shell Oil and a devastating striker by night with four of his five wins coming via TKO.

JACEN FLYNN
Fighting out of: Meridian, ID/No camp
Record: 8-2
Age: 31
Jacen Flynn possesses an 8-2 mixed martial arts record that includes wins over UFC vets Dennis Kang and Dean Lister. Away from the octagon, he is a social worker.

JAMES HAMMORTREE
Fighting out of: Ocala, FL/USA Martial Arts
Record: 4-0
Age: 23
Following one season at Weber International, where he starred on the football team as a linebacker and on special teams, Hammortree left the program in order to become a full-time firefighter in Ocala, Fla. The former high school wrestler owns a 4-0 professional record with all four of those bouts taking place in 2009.

JOSEPH HENLE
Fighting out of: Thousand Oaks, CA/Big John McCarthy’s MMA
Record: 3-0
Age: 26
Joseph Henle splits time training at Big John McCarthy’s MMA and working as a substitute teacher and wrestling coach in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Henle earned his MBA in financial planning from California Lutheran University in 2006. He speaks fluent Japanese.

CHARLEY LYNCH
Fighting out of: Mound, MN/Northway MMA
Record: 6-0
Age: 25
The self-proclaimed baddest man in Minnesota, Charley Lynch owns a 6-0 professional record with zero of his bouts going to decision.

KRIS MCCRAY
Fighting out of: Dumfries, VA/Chute Boxe
Record: 5-0
Age: 28
Son of a military father, Kris McCray was raised in Germany, where he excelled on the soccer pitch and garnered All-Europe honors in high school. In 1999, McCray moved permanently to the U.S., where he has served parts of eight years (six active, two inactive) as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve while also finding time to earn his associate’s degree in social studies from Northern Virginia Community College .

VICTOR O’DONNELL
Fighting out of: Milford, OH/Vision MMA
Record: 8-1
Age: 27
Hailing from Milford, Ohio, O’Donnell suffered his first professional loss this past September against cast mate Costantinos Philippou. Before that, he had won eight contests, seven by submission.

NORMAN PARAISY
Fighting out of: Coconut Creek, FL/American Top Team
Record: 5-1
Age: 23
Norman Paraisy was born and raised Paris, France. The 5-1 Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist left France in order to pursue MMA in the States and is now a member of American Top Team.

COSTANTINOS PHILIPPOU
Fighting out of: Merrick, NY/Serra-Longo
Record: 5-1
Age: 30
Costantinos Philippou is a former boxer with three professional and more than 80 amateur fights on his record. The 30-year-old server from Merrick, N.Y., was born and raised in Greece. He currently trains out of the Serra-Longo camp.

GREG REBELLO
Fighting out of: Buzzards Bay, MA/Sityodtong USA
Record: 9-2
Age: 27
Greg Rebello trains fulltime at Sityodtong USA in Massachusetts under the watchful eye of Mark DellaGrotte. Currently in peak physical condition, Rebello at one time weighed in more than 300 pounds before dedicating himself to fitness at the age of 18.

NICK RING
Fighting out of: Calgary, Canada/B.D.B. Martial Arts
Record: 10-0
Age: 30
Nick Ring returned to MMA in May 2009 following a three-year stint away from the sport after suffering a devastating knee injury. In that time, Ring boxed professionally to the tune of a 4-1 record with three knockouts.

JORDAN SMITH
Fighting out of: Clearfield, UT/Throwdown Elite Fight Team
Record: 10-0
Age: 24
A seventh-grade teacher by day, Jordan Smith is a former professional boxer that trains with fellow cast member Court McGee at Throwdown Elite Fight Team.

BEN STARK
Fighting out of: Tamarac, FL/American Top Team
Record: 3-1
Age: 27
Born and raised a practitioner of the Orthodox Jewish religion until the age of 6, Ben Stark began training with American Top Team in Florida as a sophomore in college. When not at the gym, Stark picks up shifts at “The Original Fat Cats” music club and also finds time to breed snakes.

JAMIE YAGER
Fighting out of: Los Angeles, CA/Kings MMA
Record: 2-1
Age: 25
A standout varsity letterman in baseball and football, Yager was the 2001 Athlete of the Year at South Pasadena High School in California. He picked up training MMA as a hobby and went straight from training to the professional ranks in February 2008 as part of BET’s “Iron Ring,” where he defeated his opponent by TKO.